There's growing concern about the effects of mobile devices on young people. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The government of southeastern Australian state, New South Wales, has said that it plans to carry out a comprehensive review of smartphone use in schools. This will look at the effects of smartphones on kids in school, both in and out classrooms.

Why is that significant? Because, building on the growing concern about smartphone addiction, it represents a developing trend focused on cracking down on the use of phones. And New South Wales isn’t the only place doing this.

Apple has made a change to how it markets the new third-generation iPad around the world following complaints from an Australian competition regulator. The ACCC took Apple to court in the land down under over the latest iPad’s “4G” branding. Apple marketed the tablet in Australia as being capable of 4G data speeds despite the fact that the new iPad cannot currently use a 4G network in the country.

Without any public statement or announcement Apple has quietly changed the new iPad’s “Wi-Fi + 4G” label to “WiFi + Cellular.”

During a recent radio interview with ABC Sydney, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak slammed the Cupertino company’s “horrible” prices down under, which force consumers to pay large premiums for its latest devices. Woz’s comments come after several technology giants have come under fire from Australian consumers and its government over price discrimination.

An Australian airline revealed in a press release last week that one of its cabin crew was forced to extinguish an iPhone 4 that very nearly burst into flames shortly after the plane touched down in Sydney. As it turns out, that certainly won’t be the last iPhone to self combust.

An iPhone 4 user in Brazil has experienced a similar scenario with his own handset. While charging just inches away from his face, the device began emitting plumes of smoke and caught fire.

While Apple’s iPhone is famous for packing a long list of fancy features, self combustion definitely should not be one of them. For one iPhone 4 user who recently took their device onboard an Australian airplane, however, that’s exactly what they got.

Remember when Samsung requested that Apple hand over its carrier agreements in the Australian court? Bloomberg is now reporting that the judge has sided with Samsung in the case and is demanding that Apple hand over the juicy details on its iPhone contracts.

Australian airliner, Qantas Airlines, is to begin offering the iPad for in-flight entertainment to travellers on its Jetstar flights.

Qantas have been testing the tablet device on its planes since back in June, and passengers had the opportunity to rent the tablet device for $10 (AUS). Following its success, the airliner is now ready to deploy the iPad across its Jetstar flights.

“We’re in the final stages of putting in place what would be a broader roll out across the network. We’re in ongoing discussion with the manufacturer around a more integrated network proposition.”

We’re unsure what an “integrated network” could mean at this point, but it seems that it might be a streaming service for music, movies, TV shows, and games, so that passengers can choose entertainment to suit them, rather than have to pick from what’s available on the device.